Chapter 1375: The Technical Specialist

The first rays of morning sunlight crept over the eastern mountain range, casting a faint golden glow across the rolling hills. A sharp wind howled high above the sky fortress, skimming over the faintly shimmering energy shield. After passing through multiple layers of filtering and redirection, the biting cold of the upper atmosphere softened into a gentle breeze. The imperial banner hanging above the control center fluttered in the wind, its sword-and-plow emblem embroidered in pale gold thread rippling gracefully.

Rebecca paused on the main thoroughfare of the upper deck, tilting her head to admire the superstructure of the Dawn of the Mortal World as it gradually took on a metallic sheen in the dawn light. A silly smile slowly spread across her face.

She had grown accustomed to life aboard this airborne fortress, and lately, she found herself increasingly fond of greeting the sunrise from the upper deck of the Dawn of the Mortal World.

“Good morning, Creator,” came the voice of the fortress’s central AI from a nearby low-power speaker. The ship had detected Rebecca’s location and greeted her proactively. “The sun looks particularly fine today.”

“Good morning. It really is a beautiful day,” Rebecca replied with a bright smile, waving cheerfully at the nearby monitoring device. Her face practically radiated happiness. “Feels like the perfect day to toss something artistically inspired toward the wasteland—”

“As you say, today is an excellent day to set out,” the Dawn of the Mortal World responded calmly. A low hum rose from deep within the anti-gravity behemoth, gradually increasing in pitch—the sound of its twenty-two auxiliary thrusters warming up. “Shall I arrange orbital transit to Industrial Deck 2 for you? The nearest access tunnel is fifty meters to your left.”

“Sounds good,” Rebecca nodded and strode toward a raised structure protruding from the deck. “Oh, and please let Commander Jinna know I’ve finished calibrating the last supercritical accelerator. She can use it anytime.”

“Understood. Message sent.” The AI’s voice replied promptly.

Rebecca reached the raised platform, where with a faint mechanical hiss, an arched protective panel slid upward, revealing a cylindrical transit pod large enough to seat several people. She slipped inside with practiced ease, secured the safety lock, and the pod smoothly descended into the track embedded beneath the deck, speeding toward Industrial Deck 2—the site of the purification device assembly plant.

The Dawn of the Mortal World was colossal, its interior a marvel of multi-layered, space-efficient design. Navigating this flying city was no small feat. To solve this, Rebecca and her team of magi-technicians and mechanical scholars had designed a comprehensive transit system from the outset: magical vehicles for surface travel, a rapid transit rail system connecting zones on the same deck, and high-speed elevators running vertically through the fortress. Of these, the rail system was the most vital.

Its design was inspired by the towering Thalin Great Tree, which dwarfed even the Dawn of the Mortal World. To facilitate movement within the tree, Beltira had constructed “transport conduits” resembling the plant’s nutrient vessels. This mature and effective design sparked Rebecca’s technical team’s ingenuity, and through industrial and mechanical innovation, they recreated a similarly convenient transit system—one that worked brilliantly.

The cylindrical pod zipped through the track, part of which was made from high-strength synthetic crystal “windows.” Rebecca gazed through one, watching the world outside. Though the transit route lay beneath the deck, it was far from dark or empty. Beneath the thick armor and powerful shields lay the fortress’s beating heart: the roaring engines and assembly lines for countless killing machines. Most of the ship’s troops were quartered in dormitories below deck, and even now, many areas were still under expansion.

Ahead, a dimly lit space emerged. As the pod sped overhead, Rebecca spotted a massive platform illuminated by high-powered engineering lights. Dozens of magi-technicians and mechanical scholars in uniform bustled about, welding and cutting sparks flashing like fireflies inside the war machine. At the far end, numerous prefabricated frames awaited assembly—marked with gold insignias indicating they weren’t produced aboard the Dawn of the Mortal World but came from the nearby flying fortress Hector.

The Hector was a Gorgon-class fortress that had long accompanied the Dawn of the Mortal World. Though not a powerhouse in combat, its “back” housed the largest foundry and industrial complex in the entire aerospace battle group. Every five days, massive “cloud-bottom” transports ferried raw metal ingots and other materials from the surface to Hector’s industrial center. There, the materials were forged and machined into components before being distributed to fortresses like the Dawn of the Mortal World. The fortress’s name came from the legendary master craftsman Hector, a figure from the First Age of colonization during the founding of the Gondor Empire.

“That platform must be Maintenance Hangar 2… It’s taken so long, but it’s almost finished,” Rebecca murmured as the pod swept past. Her gaze lifted from below. “With this new hangar, our Dragon Rider squadrons should see a big boost in combat efficiency. What else is left unfinished?”

“Only one auxiliary cooling unit in Sector A12 remains under construction. Once completed, it will allow the Dawn of the Mortal World to travel faster and reduce the cooling cycle of all main cannon-class iridescent generators by ten percent,” the AI reported. “Basic construction is over halfway done. Materials and personnel are sufficient. The project will proceed as planned.”

“Phew… that’s a relief,” Rebecca exhaled softly. “This fortress is finally nearing completion.”

The Dawn of the Mortal World had launched before it was fully finished. The war had erupted too suddenly and spiraled out of control early on, forcing the fortress to rush to the front lines the day after its core functions passed inspection. Beyond basic navigation and combat capabilities, many of its subsystems and flagship fleet support modules were built on the fly during combat. Its massive scale, fully equipped factories, and the technical team’s ingenuity made this unprecedented feat possible. And now, at last, the fortress was approaching its final stages.

“Do you plan to build a second sky fortress?” The AI’s voice returned after a brief pause. “Like you mentioned before… my sister ship.”

“Of course,” Rebecca said immediately. “Our ancestors said that a do-or-die superweapon isn’t reliable. Mass-producible weapons are the real backbone. We never intended to build just one Dawn of the Mortal World. At least a whole squadron is needed.” She nodded enthusiastically. “With the experience gained from you and advances in technology, your ‘little sister’ should be born soon… I’ve even thought of a name already!”

“You’ve already chosen a name?” The AI sounded mildly curious. “I found no related records in the database…”

“I haven’t reported it yet. Not even Aunt Hetty or the ancestors know,” Rebecca waved her hand dismissively. “Since you’re called Dawn of the Mortal World, I’m thinking the new fortress should be called Twilight of the Gods. That way, the day’s cycle is complete…”

The AI fell silent for a moment before replying, “I believe the High Council of the Theocracy might be sensitive to that name…”

“I’ll discuss it with them later,” Rebecca said with a confident shrug, as if it was no big deal. “If worse comes to worst, we can rename it to Noon of the Gods…”

The AI went completely silent. It could handle thousands of neural signals from this massive fortress every second, but it simply couldn’t process the wild ideas running through this imperial lead ball’s head.

But the quiet didn’t last long. The transit pod began to slow, accompanied by faint mechanical friction and the distinctive clicks of repulsion drives reversing. Rebecca felt herself come to a stop. The cylindrical pod was pushed up to the exit, the protective panel slid open, and she stepped out onto the open-air assembly platform of Industrial Deck 2.

Before her stood the fruits of her and nearly a hundred technicians’ labor: a purification device broken down into seventeen components, designed to be packed into simple airdrop frames and deployed directly from the sky fortress to the surface for assembly.

As she walked toward the platform, her mood buoyant, she spotted an unexpected figure standing nearby—a tall blonde woman clad in a form-fitting white air force commander’s uniform, a decorative short cape draped over one shoulder. Her glossy golden hair was tied back in a single ponytail, exuding both vigor and freshness.

This was Jinna Prince, the Empire’s Air Force Commander, a former griffon rider and seasoned “sky master.” She had fought in nearly every battle on the Empire’s rise and was the first pilot when the Dragon Rider Corps was established. As a young empire with cutting-edge technology, the military and technical fields in Cecil were notably youthful, and Jinna was undoubtedly among the best.

But Rebecca thought Jinna’s greatest skill wasn’t her prowess in aerial combat—it was her undefeated record of turning down matchmaking attempts by more than a company’s worth of suitors. Rumor had it that even Mr. Solderin’s mother had tried to set her up. They had spent an entire day exchanging views on griffon and war hawk breeding, and if Solderin hadn’t arrived just in time, the two might have become sworn sisters across species…

Rebecca shook her head hard, banishing the wandering thoughts. Most of those rumors came from Amber’s mouth, so it was best not to indulge in wild speculation. Besides, before departure, the ancestors and Aunt Hetty had specifically reminded her to follow Commander Jinna’s orders. Though Rebecca was the Dawn of the Mortal World’s chief technician, she was still just that—the entire air force, including the fortress, answered to this true professional soldier.

“Commander Jinna, what are you doing here?” Rebecca stepped forward, greeting Jinna, who seemed unaware of her approach. “I thought you’d be in the control center…”

“Your Highness,” Jinna finally noticed Rebecca and gave a small smile and a nod. “I received your message and was about to check on the last completed set of supercritical accelerators. Since I was passing by, I thought I’d take a look at the purification device as well.”

Rebecca grinned proudly, never one to hide her feelings when praised. “Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Jinna turned her gaze to the assembly platform, where gleaming metal components were laid out. The purification core, split into three segments, stood like massive pillars made of crystal and metal at the center. Technicians carefully installed cushioning pads and mounting frames around them. Other parts had already been disassembled, packed, and neatly arranged along the platform’s edge, waiting for heavy transport vehicles to carry them to the “deployment port” on the outskirts of the Dawn of the Worldship. There, the packed components would be fitted with disposable airdrop frames and, through a series of attitude adjustments and deceleration maneuvers, dropped toward the surface. Ground recovery and engineering teams would then reassemble them on site.

“It really is an incredible achievement,” Jinna admitted, not being a technical expert herself but fully aware of how much this plan could shift the tide of battle. “The Western Front is currently the slowest in the entire Alliance’s progress, but if the airdrop goes smoothly, we can catch up with our allies on the other fronts.”

“No doubt about it. We’ve tested everything thoroughly. These segmented components are easy to install,” Rebecca said confidently. “Plus, a whole aerospace combat group will provide cover during the drop. Until the purification device is activated, those monsters won’t be able to interfere with the assembly on the ground…”

“No, I’m not worried about the assembly or activation on the ground. What concerns me is the drop itself…” Jinna’s expression grew troubled. “Are those disposable airdrop frames really reliable? Welding a high-powered antigravity ring directly onto a big iron frame… I saw the finished product yesterday, and honestly, it feels a bit too… crude?”

Rebecca stroked her chin thoughtfully. “I think it’s fine. Or maybe I could have the mechanical engineers weld a couple more steel support columns on?”

“It’s not about adding more steel columns… Well, you’re the expert in this field. If you say it’s fine, then I trust you,” Jinna Prince said with a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, nodding resignedly. “Duke Bertram just sent word from the surface. His ground forces are ready to march as soon as we depart.”

Securing air superiority first, then having ground troops follow to secure the area—this was the lesson Jinna had learned in this war.

“Yes, Commander Jinna, the Dawn of the Worldship is ready,” Rebecca straightened up immediately, her voice firm and clear. “We can depart now!”

(End of chapter)